murder
murder Lexical Profile
murder Game Scores & Validity
• noun
The unlawful, premeditated killing of one human being by another.
"The detective spent months gathering forensic evidence to solve the unsolved murder."
A very difficult, unpleasant, or exhausting experience or task (informal).
"Driving through downtown traffic during the Friday evening rush hour is absolute murder."
A collective group or flock of crows.
"A large murder of crows gathered noisily in the bare branches of the oak tree at dusk."
• verb
To kill someone unlawfully and with premeditation.
"In the play, Macbeth is driven by ambition to murder the king in his sleep."
To spoil or ruin a performance, language, or piece of music through incompetence (informal).
"The untrained singer managed to completely murder the classic aria during the audition."
To decisively defeat an opponent in a game or competition (informal).
"The defending champions are going to murder our amateur team if we do not improve our defense."
• Rhymes for murder
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English 'morðor', meaning a secret or unlawful killing, which was later reinforced by Anglo-Norman 'murdre' and ultimately traces back to the Proto-Indo-European root '*mer-', meaning to die.